1.  A person who is not currently incarcerated for any offense may bring a civil action for his or her wrongful conviction against this State in a district court seeking damages or other relief provided by NRS 41.950.

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Terms Used In Nevada Revised Statutes 41.900

  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • person: means a natural person, any form of business or social organization and any other nongovernmental legal entity including, but not limited to, a corporation, partnership, association, trust or unincorporated organization. See Nevada Revised Statutes 0.039
  • Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.

2.  The court shall award damages for wrongful conviction in accordance with NRS 41.950 if the person proves by a preponderance of the evidence that:

(a) He or she was convicted of a felony in this State and was subsequently imprisoned for the conviction;

(b) He or she did not commit the felony for which he or she was convicted and the person:

(1) Was not an accessory or accomplice to the acts that were the basis of the conviction;

(2) Did not commit the acts that were the basis of the conviction; and

(3) Did not aid, abet or act as an accomplice or accessory to a person who committed the acts that were the basis of the conviction;

(c) He or she was not convicted of an offense necessarily included in the offense charged;

(d) Any of the following occurred:

(1) The judgment of conviction was reversed or vacated and the charging document was dismissed;

(2) The basis for reversing or vacating the judgment of conviction was not legal error that was unrelated to his or her innocence, and if a court ordered a new trial, the person was found not guilty at the new trial or the person was not retried and the charging document was dismissed; or

(3) The person was pardoned by the State Board of Pardons Commissioners on the grounds that he or she was innocent; and

(e) The person did not commit perjury or fabricate evidence at the criminal proceeding that brought about his or her felony conviction and the person did not by his or her own conduct cause or bring about his or her felony conviction.

3.  The court, in exercising its discretion as permitted by law regarding the weight and admissibility of evidence, may, in the interest of justice, give due consideration to:

(a) The difficulty of providing evidence caused by the passage of time;

(b) The death or unavailability of a witness;

(c) The destruction of evidence; or

(d) Any other factor not caused by the person or any other person acting on his or her behalf.

4.  The court may appoint an attorney to aid a person in an action brought pursuant to this section.

5.  For the purposes of subsection 2, the following do not constitute committing perjury, fabricating evidence or causing or bringing about the conviction of the person:

(a) A confession or an admission later found to be false; or

(b) If the judgment of conviction was reversed or vacated and the charging document dismissed, a guilty plea for a felony.

6.  As used in this section, ‘innocence’ means that a person did not engage in:

(a) The conduct for which he or she was convicted; and

(b) Any conduct constituting a lesser included or inchoate offense of the crime for which he or she was convicted.

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